Convertilaptopilets: Hands-on with Samsung’s new Smart PC hybrids

Will anyone buy a $1200 tablet that connects to a keyboard dock?

Samsung unveiled a handful of its Windows 8 hardware entries at a media event in New York City Monday night, including two Ativ (pronounced like "active" without the "c," not like "creative") "Smart PCs." While none of the models shown were final production units, according to the reps (despite an anticipated launch on October 26), we spent some time messing around with the hardware to see how compelling the offerings will be when Windows 8 finally lands.

The two most interesting items were convertible tablet-laptop hybrids (choose your own word mashup adventure: tablatop, laplet, tablaptop, tablertible, convertitop). The higher end of the two is the Samsung Ativ Smart PC 700T, an 11.6-inch tablet that docks into a keyboard base and can fold into a laptop form.

The 700T model, displaying an app from Jamie Oliver.

The 700T docked and folded into laptop pose.

The black S Pen that accompanies the 700T.

The back side of the 700T, with its oddly placed rear camera.

The power and sleep buttons next to the USB port on the 700T (a microSD port was placed on the same edge, though the reps would not guarantee it would appear in final production models).

The 700T uses an Intel Core i5-3317U processor, 4GB of RAM, and a 128GB SSD, and has an impressive 1920×1080 display with ten-finger touch. A short "S Pen" is embedded in a slot in the back of the device, and a USB 3.0 port sits next to power and lock switches along the top. The tablet includes both a 2MP front- and 8MP rear-facing camera.

The 500T also has two cameras, an S Pen, and an 11.6-inch display, but only 1366×768 resolution and five-finger touch capabilities. The USB port is 2.0 rather than 3.0, and inside is an Intel Atom Z2760 processor, 2GB of RAM, and a 64GB SSD.

The 500T model, from the side.

The underside of the 500T.

The top of the 500T.

The S Pen that comes embedded in the back of the 500T.

The back of the 500T (velcro strip is extra).

The keyboard on the 500T and 700T keyboard docks seem full size, but the trackpads are compromised a bit.

We found that the tablets popped very easily in and out of their keyboard docks and folded open and closed smoothly. However, when they were open, the tablet screens wobbled on their hinges pretty easily (reps were standing by to assure us that these were not production models).

The combined tablet-plus-dock packages were a bit chunky, with none of the slim feel of a good Ultrabook. The docks were anchored to stands, so we couldn't pick them up and carry them around, but the tablets were detachable and felt pretty heavy, even for their near-12-inch sizes. The 700T tablet sans dock weighs about 1.89 pounds, while the 500T weight 1.65 pounds. Samsung has not provided weight estimates with the docks attached.

A closeup of the eject button on the 700T's keyboard dock.

We were actually impressed at how well the S Pen worked on the 700T. One love, Ars Technica.

The docks themselves are nothing special, with slightly mushy keys and petite trackpads. The 500T's trackpad was barely responsive on the desktop side of Windows 8, though again, reps blamed the pre-production models. One of the better uses of a keyboard dock that we've seen is to use the space to add battery life, as with Lenovo's IdeaTab Lynx (16 hours with its keyboard base, 8 hours without), and additional ports. Unfortunately, Samsung's docks only add human input devices, nothing more. Samsung specifies that the 700T has a 49 Watt-hour battery while the 500T's is 30 Watt-hours, though these numbers haven't been translated to usage estimates (the international variations of these tablets are estimated at 8 and 13.5 hours, respectively).

The most disconcerting part of the two convertibles are their prices. The 500T may be slightly easier to justify at $749.99 for both tablet and dock, though with its modest specs we reserve judgment for when we actually get our hands on final production hardware. The 700T, on other hand, starts at $1,199.99. While the hardware specification is more-than-decent, the size and weight make it not quite ideal as a tablet, and the quality of keyboard dock gives us pause when treating it as a laptop.

We have no doubt that the number of customers who now own both tablets and laptops has skyrocketed over the last couple of years. That said, we wonder whether users will buy into a device that fills both roles, at a potential usability cost, with virtually no monetary savings. These convertilaptopilets may be headed for a similarly sized niche as the one that gaming laptops have occupied for several years now—capable for certain tasks, but with enough compromises that they're not suited to the mainstream user.

Casey Johnston
Casey Johnston is the former Culture Editor at Ars Technica, and now does the occasional freelance story. She graduated from Columbia University with a degree in Applied Physics. Twitter@caseyjohnston

I've used these things before; and no, nobody will buy them. Ignoring the fact that they're just too expensive, the temptation to use the keyboard is too great,. That means you always have to carry it around with you; which defeats the purpose of a tablet. The entire reason I love my iPad is that I can just throw it in my bag.

I carried around my iPad for a while... didn't do enough for me. I had to carry around a laptop and the iPad. I'm all for carrying fewer things. If I have to use a backpack or such anyway, I might as well bring one machine that can do everything I need it to do. If that one machine can also function as a tablet, that's icing, IMO.

I'd buy one of these convertible laptops/tablet if they had two different docks. Maybe one thin and light for portability and then a big clunky one (like an Alienware with discrete graphics) for desktop/gaming needs.

I see a real market for these as well, but impossible to see how successful the Ativ will be with a pre-production model. Things like weight, feel of keyboard, and sturdiness of screen lock are key, so when these can't yet be judged, it's all rather moot

I'm not crazy about the name "Ativ." It seems like one of those words where you have to think about the pronunciation before you say it, and even then, it doesn't exactly roll off the tongue. One might want to consider something easier to say, like ThinkPad or Surface.

I wonder if, when inviting someone to check out your new Ativ, they'll ask if you meant to say "active."

What to call them? How about what we've been calling them since 2002? TABLET PCs.

If it's just the screen and the performance guts, it's a slate tablet PC. If it's got a detachable keyboard, it's a hybrid tablet PC. If it's got a keyboard that folds, slides, or rotates out of the way behind the screen, it's a convertible tablet PC. These terms have worked well for a decade...why change them now?

And what's with all the complaining that something that has the same performance guts as a $1200 MacBook Air costs as much as a MacBook Air (shocking, isn't it) instead of costing $500 like an ARM tablet with totally different internals?

I can't see justifying the extra cost for such marginal benefit, specs-wise, of a good Ultrabook. I ended up with an Android tablet, the Asus Transformer (I always link it because, when I didn't, people asked what the heck it was) myself. It's plenty powerful enough for basic needs and even with the [url=http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007SHJIP6/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B007SHJIP6&linkCode=as2&tag=everyneedsage-20]keyboard (dock) was less than the low end device in this article. My keyboard has a battery in it that gives me another 5 hours of use on top of the 10 hours I get with the base unit. I've got to say, even without the extra battery, it's pretty darned impressive from a performance and battery life perspective. I can't see most folks needing to do more than basic Office docs on a mobile platform; most Android tablets I see nowadays come with a good enough Office compatible app suite on board.

I suppose they're aiming more for the "power user" market but I just don't think the models we've seen will be successful at these price points. I know that Microsoft is desperate to catch back up in terms of modern computing, as are their OEMs, but I just don't know how well they're going to be able to compete with an already reasonably mature tablet market. Only time will tell.

Call them tablet PCs. Call them tablet PCs. Call them tablet PCs. I should start beating my head against stuff.

Anyway, as for the question of whether "anyone" will buy Windows 8 tablet PCs, I already voted with my pocketbook. Preordered the VAIO Duo 11. I don't think these are "too expensive." The way I look at it, $1099 was a smokin' good deal for Ivy Bridge i3, a 1080p IPS Gorilla Glass-coated touchscreen, a magnesium alloy case, a 128 gb ssd, an N-Trig digitizer stylus, and a backlit keyboard.

I've used these things before; and no, nobody will buy them. Ignoring the fact that they're just too expensive, the temptation to use the keyboard is too great,. That means you always have to carry it around with you; which defeats the purpose of a tablet. The entire reason I love my iPad is that I can just throw it in my bag.

Currently carry around both an Android tablet and a laptop, so carrying around just a convertilaptopilet and it's keyboard would be less than I'm carrying around now. Would love one, but I can't ignore the price...so I'll have to hope these catch on and come down in price some day.

Call them tablet PCs. Call them tablet PCs. Call them tablet PCs. I should start beating my head against stuff.

Anyway, as for the question of whether "anyone" will buy Windows 8 tablet PCs, I already voted with my pocketbook. Preordered the VAIO Duo 11. I don't think these are "too expensive." The way I look at it, $1099 was a smokin' good deal for Ivy Bridge i3, a 1080p IPS Gorilla Glass-coated touchscreen, a magnesium alloy case, a 128 gb ssd, an N-Trig digitizer stylus, and a backlit keyboard.

Are you aware of any others (tablets or convertibles) that come with a digitizer and stylus? That's my killer feature that I'm looking out for, myself. I want to make sure I know what's out there.

EDIT: But by God, if not for the price, the VAIO Duo looks sexy as hell.

What to call them? How about what we've been calling them since 2002? TABLET PCs.

If it's just the screen and the performance guts, it's a slate tablet PC. If it's got a detachable keyboard, it's a hybrid tablet PC. If it's got a keyboard that folds, slides, or rotates out of the way behind the screen, it's a convertible tablet PC. These terms have worked well for a decade...why change them now?

It's because tablets are cool and associated with the ultracool über-product called iPad, but "Tablet PC" still has that 1990-ish acronym "PC" in it, which sounds like something nobody will be using in the bright new mobile future. So "Tablet PC" is out and "hybrid tablet" or something like that is in. To paraphrase Heidi Klum: One day in consumer electronics you're "in" and the next day "out".

What to call them? How about what we've been calling them since 2002? TABLET PCs.

If it's just the screen and the performance guts, it's a slate tablet PC. If it's got a detachable keyboard, it's a hybrid tablet PC. If it's got a keyboard that folds, slides, or rotates out of the way behind the screen, it's a convertible tablet PC. These terms have worked well for a decade...why change them now?

It's because tablets are cool and associated with the ultracool über-product called iPad, but "Tablet PC" still has that 1990-ish acronym "PC" in it, which sounds like something nobody will be using in the bright new mobile future. So "Tablet PC" is out and "hybrid tablet" or something like that is in. To paraphrase Heidi Klum: One day in consumer electronics you're "in" and the next day "out".

"Smart PC" is really ironic of calling them in a historical context. The smartphone as conceived by Nokia and also called as such many years before the iPhone was basically a miniature PC which could carry out many functions of PCs in addition to the basic phone functions and even be extended by applications. The "smart" part of the "Smart PC" marketing term clearly own its origins to "smartphone", so these new tablet PCs by Samsung are basically as smart as smartphones, which in turn are smart like PCs...

Call them tablet PCs. Call them tablet PCs. Call them tablet PCs. I should start beating my head against stuff.

Anyway, as for the question of whether "anyone" will buy Windows 8 tablet PCs, I already voted with my pocketbook. Preordered the VAIO Duo 11. I don't think these are "too expensive." The way I look at it, $1099 was a smokin' good deal for Ivy Bridge i3, a 1080p IPS Gorilla Glass-coated touchscreen, a magnesium alloy case, a 128 gb ssd, an N-Trig digitizer stylus, and a backlit keyboard.

Are you aware of any others (tablets or convertibles) that come with a digitizer and stylus? That's my killer feature that I'm looking out for, myself. I want to make sure I know what's out there.

EDIT: But by God, if not for the price, the VAIO Duo looks sexy as hell.

Can someone tell me how this form factor is different from using a iPad with a wireless keyboard? like a Kensington KeyLite Touch Keyboard?

A wireless iPad keyboard doesn't have a hinge and physical connection to the slate, so you can't use it like a small laptop. EDIT: I see the model you mention has a folio cover that holds both the laptop and the keyboard and you can prop it up on a table Microsoft-Surface-style...though that's still not quite the same as having a hinge that supports the screen (think MacBook Air).

And perhaps more importantly, an iPad doesn't run an x86 operating system or x86 software. So this isn't really anything like using an iPad with a bluetooth keyboard.

so this is roughly twice the price of a lynx & lacks its keyboard run all day & them some extra battery in exchange for an "S pen"? Meh. Although on an unrelated note, I wonder how many of the OEM tablets will have dock ports compatible with the surface keyboards. If MS managed to standardize that port across all the OEMs it would give craze & awesome diversity of dock devices for various functionality as everyone got in on things